ACEC member action is needed to pressure the Senate to vote on ACEC-backed legislation that would authorize nearly $40 billion for water infrastructure projects and expand the use of Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) for such projects.

ACEC encourages members to fax letters to their senators calling for passage of the bill. Click here for a sample letter and click here for a list of Senate office fax numbers.

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works cleared the Water Infrastructure Financing Act (S. 1005) in May, but Senate leaders have yet to schedule a vote. ACEC is urging the Senate to act on the measure as a component of a renewed economic recovery agenda.

“The nation’s water systems desperately need investment,” said ACEC President Dave Raymond, adding “and the economy needs the jobs boost that would result.” Raymond cited a recent study that found each $1 billion investment in water infrastructure generates approximately 27,000 jobs.

The bipartisan Senate bill authorizes $20 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) program and nearly $15 billion for the Drinking Water SRF over five years.

The bill also extends loan repayment periods to 30 years and broadens the list of projects eligible for SRF funding. The bill introduces a new QBS requirement for SRF-funded projects, which would apply to water systems serving communities with populations over 10,000.

The House passed similar legislation in March (H.R. 1262), with a QBS requirement that would apply to all SRF-funded projects.

Once the Senate passes S. 1005, the House and Senate must reconcile the differences between the two versions. ACEC will press congressional leaders to finish the process by the end of the year.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) unveiled the Senate version of health care reform legislation this week. Reid blended elements from two Senate bills, one from the Finance Committee and the other from the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, to produce the legislation.

The Senate measure takes a more moderate approach than the health care reform bill passed by the House earlier in the month. ACEC has voiced its opposition to the House bill, due to concerns that the legislation would increase the costs to businesses providing coverage for their employees.

Although the Senate bill has a number of provisions similar to the House-passed bill, including state health insurance exchanges and a public insurance option with an opt-out provision for the states, it takes a less stringent approach to employer health care plans. The House bill, for example, would require employers to pay 65 percent of the premium for family coverage and 72.5 percent of the premium for individual coverage. The Senate bill does not include a requirement on how much of the premium an employer must pay.

Senate leaders are working to complete debate before Christmas in order to finalize legislation for the President’s signature by the State of the Union address in late January. That timeline, however, may slip.

For more information, click here to access ACEC’s Health Care Reform Resource Center.

John Foley, vice president of Lombardo, Foley and Kolarik, Inc. in Palmetto, Fla. (left) presents an ACEC/PAC check to Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), a key member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, serving on the Highways and Transit Subcommittee. Congressman Buchanan is also a member of the House Small Business Committee.

The need for ACEC/PAC contributions has never been greater, but the window for the 2009 fundraising effort is rapidly closing.

Congress is currently addressing two issues that will have a tremendous impact on engineering firms—health care reform and infrastructure funding. With U.S. House and Senate members actively preparing for closely contested mid-term elections next year—the first congressional primary takes place in just twelve weeks—it’s a critical time for ACEC and its members.

Said ACEC Chairman Tim Psomas, “Given the opportunities and challenges we currently face—to say nothing of what we’ll face in the election year of 2010—we absolutely have to prepare right now. Without proper funding for ACEC/PAC, we’ll have one arm tied behind our back during one of the most important legislatives battles our firms have faced.”

Added ACEC/PAC National Chairman Tom Ahneman of Ahneman Kirby in Greenwich, CT, “We need to be at full strength politically now, if we expect to have a chance to be successful in our advocacy efforts before Congress adjourns for the year. Each state has a goal and I can’t encourage my fellow ACEC members enough to accept their fair share of that goal. What each of us does right now will have long-term consequences for our firms and our future economic success.”

Eight states have already met their ACEC/PAC goal and ACEC/PAC volunteers are working overtime in every other state to raise individual contributions from ACEC members. The deadline for forwarding all ACEC/PAC contributions to ACEC headquarters in Washington, D.C. is noon Thursday, December 31, 2009.

For more information on ACEC/PAC, contact Gregory Knopp, ACEC executive director of political affairs (gknopp@acec.org) or Elizabeth Coit, ACEC/PAC director (ecoit@acec.org) at 202-347-7474.